Sunday, January 6, 2008

Lets first get to the introduction of forex. FOREX is an international online currency exchange that was established in 1971. It is now the premier foreign currency exchange market in the world, with an average daily trading volume reaching as high as one and a half trillion. Three types of traders make use of FOREX-banks, individuals, and corporations. When they have needed to exchange currency online, FOREX Online Currency Trading is the number one place to do it.

Mostly people think that why should they do online currency trading with FOREX? The answer is that there are two basic reasons to do your online currency trading with FOREX. First and foremost, FOREX online currency trading is done to make a profit. Depending on the market, a bank, corporation, or individual can make a windfall profit through FOREX online currency trading. Another reason to do currency trading is to get into a secured position by eliminating trading risks arising from foreign exchange rate movement. In other words, FOREX online currency trading can help a bank, corporation, or individual to weather changes in foreign exchange rates by already having the foreign currency they need on hand.

FOREX is unique in terms of trading exchanges. Rather than the typical exchange like Wall Street or the Tokyo Exchange, FOREX is an entirely digital foreign currency exchange system. The rate of foreign exchange changes so quickly those traders must be able to react to market shifts within seconds. Online FOREX currency trading makes this possible by eliminating the classic stock broker. Rather than trading telephone calls and trying to catch a great deal by shouting and waving papers, FOREX trading is accomplished with a touch of a button on the computer.

The ease of online FOREX currency trading appeals to many, both businesses and individuals alike. All the information one needs to get started with FOREX trading is available online. FOREX exchange rates are continually updated on many websites. It is simple to buy one currency when it is low and sell it when it is high. However, what goes up can also come down, and new traders on the FOREX online markets must be prepared for losses. Still, despite the risks, more and more people are participating in online FOREX trading every day.

Keeping updated with the world market is the best way to prevent losses with currency trading. Learning which countries are experiencing economic growth or recession is essential to make the best currency trading decisions. It is always good to invest in currency from nations who are experiencing growth. Likewise, avoiding countries that are historically unstable or are experiencing war or international economic sanctions is only wise. FOREX online currency trading is not for everyone, but with some knowledge and skill, it can be very lucrative.

He or she, who is known to gamble on horses, or dogs, or other sporting events etc., is often branded a persona non grata in certain circles.

However, if a person speculates on buying and selling securities, foreign currency, or property, their classification would point to a persona grata.

Both cases are of course a form of gambling dressed in different clothing. In both cases, there is a possibility of risk loss or the possibility of bigger gain. The need to arrive at an opinion without having positive evidence to back it up is equally there. So is the problem that complete facts are hardly ever disclosed, to enable the finding of a certainty.

In spite of these hurdles, in the case of property and foreign currency buying or selling, the chances of getting it right are better as opposed to finding the outcome of a horse or a dog race, or a football game. Getting involved is also less of a worry, because even if you get it wrong, you still have that house or that other currency you bought. The result is over only when you say, since these investments can eventually regain value, and actually show a profit. Backing losers in racing and other forms of gambling can mean that for the serious or occasional gambler, the money is dead and buried.

Of course, some gamblers attach a lot of importance to the thrill effect of their bets. There is no doubt that betting on sport events, cards, or many casino games can be thrilling, but so is the constant movement of the value of currencies. That wheel goes round and round nonstop, but you can get on and off whenever you like. There are many foreign currency exchange companies ready to let you operate, offering very good rates.

Never think of a bookmaker as an enemy whom you have to beat, your selection may be the one he also wants to win. Also, remember your foreign currency exchange office as a friend that makes it possible for you to play at good currency rates. You are putting your wits against a market that has no financial interest in your winnings or losses.

A realtor has equally no interest to see you lose any money. On the contrary, he likes you to be happy with the purchase of your property. Even if the prices should go against you, he knows that in due course things will change.

A speculator in the foreign currency game increases the chances of success by keeping in touch with as much relevant data as possible, which means that there is never a dull moment. The same applies to a property speculator. By having to constantly study the market and world affairs, the person becomes necessarily rather well read and interesting to talk to. Amongst other things, that gambler is a persona grata.

These days, more and more gamblers turn to the forex game. It keeps them amused as well as thrilled. Instead of a horse or a tennis star etc., they are the actual performer. There is little doubt that the well prepared person has the chance to prevail.The currency market is not a geared slot machine. It has inexhaustible money to hand out if you get things right, and does not care if you keep winning, should you be clever enough.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Many today prefer to buy stocks online because they don't have the time to get involved in trading decisions during the day and want to take decisions only when they are free, that might even be at midnight. Also online trading service providers offer the individual a whole wealth of information to analyze and internalize before making the investment. Further the commission that these service providers charge on each transaction is much less than what on-floor brokers do. So the investor earns a lot more on every transaction.

While trading online, there are a few things that you should be careful about. We will try here to provide you with some basic indicators.

You must understand that however fast your internet connection is, and whatever software and hardware you are using there will be some time lag between the time you click to place your order and the actual time when your order gets processed and registered. This time lag, depending on how long it is can seriously alter your final gains or losses. What you can do is to see the time-lag is kept to a minimum. That would be possible if you have the best set-up in place and your trading firm provides its subscribers with the best service.

You must get real time updates and stock quotes from your service provider. If it is delayed then you will be placing orders for rates which are long history. And then it will take further time to process your order. What you will finally get is something a lot different from what you were expecting. So the feeds have to be live and real time. There can be no two-ways about it.

to be successful in the field of stocks one is required to have some primary knowledge as to what is what and investing on something will yield how much result. In this article we will briefly try to explain a few fundamental things that any investor on the stock markets should know. And since you will be investing online and there will be no guide for you, knowing these basics will definitely stand you in good stead.

As online trading get increasingly easy many investors drop their guard. That is criminal. You just cannot take it easy on the net. There are a few simple things you should practice while investing on the net like always have all you transactions confirmed by your online brokerage firm, never trade from unprotected computers, regularly update the security features of the software of your computer, never provide your account information to anyone, etc.

If you have any experience in using any kind of charting packages to assist you with your forex trading, you will know that there are endless different technical indicators you can use. In this article I'm going to be asking what are all these indicators and which ones do you really need?

As you can guess from the title of this article, there are essentially four different types of technical indicator and they are as follows:

1.Trend indicators.

MACD, Parabolic SAR and the various moving averages are a few examples of trend indicators and they can all be used to identify a trend. It's widely argued that you should only trade with the trend so all of these indicators will help you to take the decision out of your hands, and therefore dictate which way you should be trading. Your only decision now is at what level to enter the trade.

2.Momentum indicators.

These types of indicators are essentially oscillating indicators and are most useful for determining overbought and oversold positions and can be very useful in signalling the start of a new trend. Examples include RSI, Stochastics and CCI.

3.Volume indicators.

As the name suggests, these types of indicators show the volume of trades behind a particualr price movement which can be extremely beneficial because a price movement backed up by high volume is a much stronger signal than a price movement based on low volume. Examples here include Chaikin Money Flow, Force Index, Money Flow Index and Ease Of Movement.

4.Volatility indicators.

Volatility indicators generally use ranges to show the behaviour of the price and the volume behind any movements. This is useful because any dramatic change in behaviour can provide a good entry signal. Common examples include Bollinger Bands, Average True Range and Envelopes.

So there you have the four different types of technical indicators available to you. Which ones you use is entirely up to you, but it's generally advised that you have at least one type of each in order to provide additional confirmation for entering a trade.

Trading forex using technical analysis is all about probabilities in that when you enter a long position, for example, you want all of your chosen signals to be signalling an upwards movement, therefore indicating a high probability of an upwards movement taking place.

If you use a strict stop loss policy and use these different types of indicators to confirm positions, then over time this high probability trading method should provide you with more winners than losers in the long run.

Tip 1 – When trading forex, always make sure to trade with a stop order, not because you expect to lose, but to prevent a large loss from an unexpected news event like a currency devaluation, government coup d'etat, terrorist attack, natural disasters, or whatever.

Tip 2 - New traders to the forex can learn to trade with the less volatile pairs and then move to the more volatile pairs later.

Tip 3 - Trade only with the trend and market momentum. As they say, "the trend is your friend." All currency pairs are trending or oscillating in some form at all times. Trending is a directional move up or down, oscillating is up and down movements going sideways within a range. We usually like to trade in trending movements only.

Tip 4 - If you have any currency pair that has moved strongly in your favor you can close out half of your lots. It is better to have the "money in the bag," than waiting for "potential winning" to come later. the market might go back against your trend later.

Tip 5 - Carry trades are great, these are trades where your objective is a combination of high interest income and some capital appreciation and you intend to hold on for a long period of time. But carry trades are usually done by seasoned traders only.

LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The dollar fell half a percent versus the euro on the first trading day of the new year with investors inclined to bet that coming U.S. economic news would be soft enough to confirm the need for more interest rate cuts.

Although U.S. existing home sales data on Monday was a bit better than expected, it did little to alter the downbeat view on the world's biggest economy cemented by the previous week's soft reports on new home sales and durable goods orders.

On the last trading day of 2007, U.S. short-term rate futures were pricing in as much as 96 percent probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut to 4.00 percent on Jan. 30. That would bring the U.S. benchmark, currently 4.25 percent, into line with euro zone rates, completely erasing the dollar's yield advantage over the euro.

Market activity was expected to slowly pick up as investors return from Christmas and new year holidays although Japan and China remain on holiday until Friday.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The dollar rallied against the euro but slipped against the yen in the final trading day of 2007 on Monday, though dealers resisted making big bets until volume increases after New Year's Day.

The dollar was on track for its biggest annual decline in four years against a basket of major currencies on expectations the Federal Reserve will have to lower interest rates further to stave off a recession.

The Fed already has cut its benchmark federal funds rate by a full percentage point in three moves, beginning at its September meeting, in an effort to ease a credit crunch which began in August.

It was the second straight year of declines for the dollar index.

"It's a funny market right now, and I can't point to any fundamental factor for what we are seeing," said Stephen Malyon, currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. "We are in holiday trading mode until Wednesday."